The Chicken Connoisseur Is The Most Hilarious Food Critic On YouTube

This “food critic for the mandem” is reviewing London takeouts one wing at a time.

One of London's most loved institutions are the chicken shops that are dotted across the city. They're cheap, easy places to grab food whether you're leaving school for the day or rolling home from a late night. As you might expect from a place where you can grab a full meal for just over $3, the quality of these establishments varies wildly.

ADVERTISEMENT

Enter the Chicken Connoisseur, a Londoner unafraid to get his fingers greasy in his quest to find the "pengest munch" in the city. His videos, in which he rates a shop's wings, fries, and chicken burgers out of five, have blown up online and had Star Wars actor John Boyega tweeting about him. It's not hard to see why, the charismatic Connoisseur brings a new energy and humor to the world of food blogging. He describes himself as "a food critic for mandem who care to know what the finest chicken restaurants in London are and where to find them."

Despite looking like he just skipped class, this critic is actually 23 and is called Elijah Quashie. Speaking to Buzzfeed, Quashie said that going viral has been "stressful" and got in the way of his eating habits. “I was hoping to enjoy my chicken. Then my phone blew up," he said.

So far in his series he has rated six joints across London, lavishing praise on Eden's in north London ("the way man breaded, he knows his business") and savaging Edgware Road's Chicken Valley (I told him no lettuce. Wasteman"). As well as the food, he also takes the practicalities in mind and says of one spot, "you can’t turn up here with a squad cos there's no space."

Each video is smartly cut, boasts an expert eye for the food, and is packed with local slang and hilarious jokes. Check out the latest episode, which has racked up over 100,000 views in two days this week, below.